Fun at the Fair

This year's model.





Here they are together.

Gotta love the 70's wallpaper. As you can see, I snagged another art piece. It was perfect weather for being outside looking at beautiful things. This year myself and Jinn participated in an art project. The promotional artwork for the fair is divided into squares then you are given a numbered tile and a section of the artwork. You then paint your version of the section you are given. All the pieces are put together like a giant puzzle. I thought Jinn and I did well considering we had crappy brushes. I even got to use my fingers because I couldn't get my brush to make a good circle.

Speaking of art, I rented an amazing movie last night. The Fall is the latest movie from Tarsem, the same director behind some cool music videos (including R.E.M.'s "Losing My Religion") and the film The Cell. It tells the story of Roy, a stunt man from the '20's, who is recovering from a stunt gone wrong. He's stuck in a hospital and befriends a young girl who is there thanks to a severely broken arm. Roy entertains Alexandria by telling her a story, eventually using the story as a bribe to get her to help him.

Much like del Torro, Jeunet, and Tim Burton, Tarsem has a stunning visual style that is just this side of surreal. In the hospital, the film is grounded with a sense of whimsy, but as Roy tells his story, the visual landscape changes into something even more beautiful and breathtaking. He deftly handles both the fable and the real story.

Lee Pace, from Pushing Daisies, filmed this before the television show hit the airwaves. He is a real pleasure to watch in many ways. His acting has a very genuine feel to it. 6 yr. old Catinca Untaru plays Alexandria astonishingly well. I believe this is her first stab at acting. I swear she gets some of the funniest lines. Her character is charming without being annoying; she comes across very much like a child you know and love, not like a kid created for a film.

Just rent it, okay?

Elvis has left the building

I am the only one here. Well, not counting a rouge service tech that is. Everyone else has gone out for lunch. Because I don't have a key, the last one to go had to lock the front door because my office is too far away to hear if anyone were to come in.

I feel like I should be downloading porn or something. Perhaps I should rummage through some desks? Nah. That would be too evil.

And speaking of evil, a study was recently done on some Facebook users and guess what, they are narcissistic. Hmmmm....I remember contemplating such an idea when I first started this blog. Here's the article if you want to read it. http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/20080926/sc_livescience/facebookprofilesoutnarcissists

I'm waiting for my bank to crumble. Thank goodness I finally started a couple of IRA's for my retirement over the last two years. Perhaps it would have been better to store my cash under my bed. Did you catch Bush's tv address? I guess it was all the fault of people wanting money to buy homes. Apparently, those willing to loan too much and too easily and then go all willie nillie with the cash had less to do with the current crisis than I thought. I wonder if Canada has these issues? I do have a current passport, though I'm guessing the HVAC market up there isn't very strong.

This weekend brings the local Art Fair on the riverfront, which is thankfully no longer under water. Perhaps I'll take the camera. I'll be picking up another piece of art. I'm considering it my post surgery gift to myself. Probably safer to put my money there as anywhere else these days.

5 Reasons to Ignore Reality TV

I'd like to make a recommendation to the Emmy folks. Let Ricky Gervais host. Seriously. Or how about Craig Ferguson (sp)? Or a random person off the street. Anyone, but who we had last night. If you have seriously unfunny people trying to be funny it just ends up being painful. The minutes lost with the "nothing" opening could have been better used elsewhere.

Say, for instance, they could have been given to the poor guy who won for writing the John Adams mini-series and got cut off just as he was talking about the importance of having a leader who can use words and language properly.

I didn't think the show could get worse than last year's strange theater in the round show. I was proven wrong. The hosts were awful. The Laugh In reunion bit was horridly unfunny and made me further believe that you really needed to be stoned to enjoy that show. Normally I don't advocate random beatings, but I think I'd enjoy it if someone smacked Lauren whatever from The Hills upside the head. Could poor David Boreanz (sp) look more awkward? Bad enough Heidi Klum called his show "The Bones."

There were a few bright spots. As mentioned earlier, Gervais was the funnest guy of the evening. I'm not sure how Steve Carrell kept a straight face during their bit. Once again, the "nominees are" bit for the best writing for a comedy, variety, etc. show were a highlight. Seeing Stephen Colbert in boxers wielding a gun was funny, Dr. Phil's slams of Letterman's staff was a good use of Phil's personality and the SNL group using their Wii characters was on the mark as well. Stewart and Conan's bits were good too.

Stewart and Colbert were fun, both in their presentations and acceptance speeches. Craig F's gag in regards to his hand being on Brooke Shield's ass was a hoot. Don Rickels and Kathy Griffin virtually stole the show. I also liked Tommy Smothers getting political while being honored for writing for a politically charged show. Tina Fey is a goddess, gracious and very funny.

I'm still trying to figure out how I feel about Josh Groban's performance. I give him bonus points for his version of the South Park theme and for faux jogging while singing the theme to Baywatch. Overall though, the idea of a theme montage done by a classical singer can only be funny for so long. I think the funny dried up before the medley ended...which isn't Groban's fault.

In a sad statement of my exsistence, the Emmy's won out over 60 Minutes featuring the presidental candidates. What can I say, I needed to see Lee Pace in a tux. I did tape 60 Min. and will hopefully get to it before Nov.

And speaking of Lost...

Last week saw the debut of the new J.J. Abrams show, Fringe. After just one episode, but an extended one at that, I'd say I'm definitely interested enough to keep watching. I'm a bit concerned though that I was most impressed with the way they did the graphics telling you where you were. For example, often when a show changes location, some text will appear in a bottom corner of the screen saying "Blah Blah City, Blah." On this show, we get some very David Fincher type effects with the text being rather large and very much in the shot. Sometimes, the camera moved through it, sometimes over it, etc. It looked really freakin' cool.

The show revolves around an FBI agent who, by the end of the first episode, is forming her own sort of task force to use "fringe" science to investigate certain crimes. There's a nasty sort of corporation and something called The Pattern that we will be concerning ourselves with down the line. Joshua Jackson (Pacey from Dawson's Creek) makes his tv return and is pretty watchable.

I'm curious to see what the show does with the premise. Abrams has said it's not The X-Files, but the influence is there. It's filmed really well and the action sequences look great. For the most part, the story and characters work. But, it was obvious in the first episode that one character had to exit to make way for the requisite romantic tension between Jackson's character and the female lead. And, Jackson's dad is a bit off so some of the humor could wander into annoying comic relief if not watched.

My only other concern revolves around just how much disbelief you need to let go of to watch. Seemingly, the show is somewhat set in the present. I have no problem with the idea that there are medical and technological advances around that most people don't know about. But, in a show where we are going to be asked to work with "fringe" concepts, the reality needs to be really grounded. And, showing us a woman with a replacement limb with fake skin, that when the skin is peeled off reveals a metallic, Terminator-esque arm and hand covered in a see through layer of clear "muscle" in a completely "Oh, I see you've noticed my crazy ass arm" sort of way sort of pulls me out of the show and into a sort of groan moment. I think they could have left that reveal until a few episodes in, especially since that chick has something to do with The Pattern.

I guess we'll just have to see how it goes. There aren't too many shows to get excited about this season, which means I might actually read more. Now there's a thought.

Reading directions is good.

I once again fell prey to my desire for fun. I noticed Target had the Lost PC game on clearance at 50% off. Sweet, I think. I scan the system requirements quickly and as far as I can tell I am set. Oops. I get it home. Open it and install it. It tells me, hey, your video card is not quite what you need. Hell, I think. I'll just keep going.

Guess what...it's hard to play when you can't see anything.

I looked online to see how much the correct video card costs. Almost 5 times as much as I paid for the game. ARRGHHH!!! I think I may have to scan ebay and see what I can find.

Reminder:
Pushing Daisies comes out tomorrow on DVD. YEAH! And, mark your calendars for the Biden-Palin debate--Oct. 2.

fumbling through the world of medical bills

Hey- do you have United Health Care? Have you recently gotten blood and/or urine tests done at the hospital? Did UHC not pay a dime? Was your hospital "in-network?"

Guess what--as a part of the RAP Clause, you can re-submit your claim and because it was done at a preferred hospital they should pay some or all of it.

Of course, no one tells you that from UHC. You have to do what I did, call the people charging me and ask about discrepencies in the bill. After about 10 min. of confusing conversation, the lady was nice enough to tell me about RAP and hopefully I won't have to pay for this stuff.

We'll know in 3-5 business days.

Killing some trees

During my lunch break, I was checking out NPR's site getting info on the podcast they did for the last Radiohead concert of this tour (I've gushed about it previously). While on the site, I clicked on to a story about a letter apparently written by someone who is from Sarah Palin's hometown. I decided to print the letter and read it another time. I innocently hit print and exit the site, returning to work.



The printer it went to is right outside my office so I hear it start to whir and I hear a sheet print. Then another. Then another. Then another. Then another. Then several more.



Okay, I think. I know the letter wasn't that long. I go out to see what's up and notice that the first page says "1 of 300." HOLY CRAP!!! 300?! Seriously? Seems I should have just printed the pages of the letter as opposed to the whole thing that included about 1400 comments.



I quickly accessed the printer and cancelled the rest of the job. Sadly, about 100 pages had printed already. Thank goodness we recycle.

Work and then home.

Our retro vending machine.




My new chair...

Heading home...

My friend Teresa and I did a diorama of this house for History Fair in Jr. High. It was a part of the Underground Railroad. We went to State with our project. The new owners put a really stupid looking top floor onto the house. Makes me sad every time I drive by.


Not an unfamiliar sight...here's me flipping off the chick who tailgated me for about 5 miles.

something quick

I heard a good interview with one of the guys from a website that fact checks the candidates...all of them...equally as much as I can tell. The site is pretty cool. I especially like the flame action around the "pants on fire" logo.

http://politifact.org/truth-o-meter/

Do you think she'll get the Spears' family vote?

So. Sarah Palin.

I saw a quick, funny bit...I think it was on Headline News...done by Jeannie Most (sp) from CNN. She hit the streets with a sheet of paper that just had Palin's name on it and began asking people who she was. It wasn't surprising to see, at that time, not many people knew about her. In fact, one passerby was asked who McCain's running mate was and they answered "Obama?" to which Jeannie responded with a chuckle and a comment along the lines of "that'd be interesting."

Driving home yesterday, NPR did a good piece on what Palin has been doing in Alaska. There was praise for being willing to work with Democrats to charge oil companies more money for drilling in order to fill up the state's coffers. There was also general praise for her efforts in regards to getting rid of a lot of fluff created by the prior Gov.

But, the prior Gov. was one of the least popular in Alaska's history. Palin based most of her campaign on the fact that she wasn't that guy. She spent most of her efforts on the oil and gas issues that she hasn't really done much else. I believe she is in favor of drilling in the National Parks in Alaska. Seems pretty pro-oil to me. In a move that makes her more of a recognized politician than a "maverick," she has apparently given the go ahead for plans/money for her hometown, but has rejected similar plans for other towns. She hasn't done much in the way of budget reform because she hasn't had to...they have a surplus. Not much pressure on you when you have cash to cover expenses and more. She's anti-choice even in cases of incest, rape, etc. She's against gay marriage (though, I understand she did sign a bill that favored same sex couples getting the same sort of benefits, etc. as married couples...somehow I doubt she actually initiated that plan). Traditional Republican anyone?

It sounds like Palin has enough political savvy to make the decisions she needs to make to keep her at the top. Which pretty much sounds like every other politician. So far, she doesn't sound like much of a renegade. She's just someone not many people have heard of so she appears to be an outsider.

I didn't hear her speech last night (too busy watching Bones), but I did print out a transcript to look over and it seems like half her speech was about McCain and half about her. I guess you can learn a lot about someone over the course of a couple of phone calls and meetings.

In the end, I'm concerned that Palin is going to appeal to every "hockey Mom" who is a little feisty (is it just me, or does she have the potential to come across as a less Satanic, brunette Ann Coulter? not enough crazy going at this point I suppose...) , doesn't have time to keep up on current events, has an underage pregnant kid (or knows someone who does) and will vote for her rather than voting for the President . She made several references to being from a small town and "knowing" these people. Well, I'm from a small town and I "know" her. She's not getting my vote.